Footwear



Patented May 7,1940

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,199,713 Foorwmm Andre Perugia, Paris, France Application December 22, 1937, Serial No. 181,067

2 Claims. (o1. 36-8.3) l

The present invention relates to ladies footwear, and more particularly, to a novel shoe combination intendedprimarily for evening or formal wear.

It is well known that ladies shoes, especially evening shoes or slippers such as those worn for dancing are not well adapted to afford proper protection to the wearer when outdoors, as for example, in going to and from the dance. While overshoes of conventional construction might be worn, it is a well known fact that women prefer not to and usually do not wear them since they are somewhat inelegant and detract from the wearers otherwise well dressed or stylish appear- These objections and disadvantages are eliminated in accordance with the present invention by providing in combination with a heelless shoe of novel construction, intended to be worn for dancing, a shoe within which the heelless Shoe may be fitted and worn in going to and from the dance and which is stylish and attractive in appearance. By means of this novel shoe comb nation it is possible for the wearer to wear, in going to and from the dance, the shoes intended for dancing within shoes constructed to provide proper protection without sacrificing style or appearance, as said last mentioned shoes thus worn over the shoes to be used for dancing have themselves the appearance of well designed and stylish evening or dress shoes and otherwise are well adapted to harmonize with, and if desired, match the wearers evening gowns or wraps. In carrying out the invention in accordance with the preferred embodiment thereof, the shoe intended for dancing embodies a novel'design and 18 unique in the respect that it is devoid of a heel whereby said shoe may be fitted within and conformed to the inner surface of the bottom of a companion shoe for support by the latter throughout 'the width and length of the same from toe to heel. Said shoes of the present invention, which are to be worn for dancing, are further characterized by the unique balancing thereof whereby although said shoes are devoidof heels, as just stated, they are capable of remaining by themselves in normal upright posi-. tion even though unsupported at the rear portions thereof. The accomplishment of these re sults constitutes additional objects of the presance.

ent invention.

The above objects of the invention and other objects which might hereinafter appear will be more fully understood fromthe following description considered with reference to the accom- Deny drawing.

'. In the drawing:

Fig. l is a perspective view of the shoe combination embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view thereof,

the companion shoe being shown in dotted lines; Fig.3 is a perspective view of the shoe intended for dancing;

- Fig. 4 .is a bottom plan view of the shoe intended for dancing;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side view, on a larger scale, of part of the upper of the companion shoe-of the combination illustrated in Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, the shoe combination ll] of the present invention comprises a heeled shoe l2 and a heelless shoe 20.

Heeled shoe I2 has an upper M composed of any suitable material, such as leather or fabric usual- 1y utilized in ladies shoes of stylish appearance, a sole l6 and a high heel I8. Said heeled shoe also preferably includes as in the usual high heeled ladies shoes, a comparatively rigid and stiffened shank portion l9- which for this pur pose may include a metal shank stiffener. The

heelless shoe 20 of the combination snugly fits within the heeled shoe l2 and for that purpose the two shoes are designed to conform one to the other.

As shown in Fig. 2 the heelless shoe 20 is capable of thus conforming to the continuous inner bottom surface of the companion heeled shoe I2,

not onlyby reason of the proper design of the shoe 20 as to size and shape in relation to the size and shape of companion shoe l2, but also for the important reason that shoe 20 is of unique construction in that, among other things, it is devoid of any heel and therefore can have its rear bottom portion seated directly on the inner surface of the rear-of the insole of the shoe l2.

' As here shown, shoe 20, which may have any desired ornamental appearance, comprises a vamp 22 composed of any' suitable leather, fabric, or other shoe upper material compatible with the use intended to be made of the shoe, as a dancing shoe, for example. .The bottom 24 to which the 'upper is secured in accordance with anysuitable shoe manufacturing process, includes an insole 26, which may, be covered by a sock lining (not shown), an outsole 28 and a metal shank stiffener 30. The outsole 28 has a forward flat tread portion 32, a raised shank portion 34 and a rear 5 portion 36 raised upwardly as a continuation of shank portion 34 and secured over the bottom marginal edge portion 38 of quarter portion 40 of the shoe.

' An important feature of shoe 20, espe y in conjunction with the heelless rear portion thereof, is the construction and balancing of the shoe whereby it is self-sustaining in an upright position supported on tread portion 32 of the outsole, notwithstanding the absence of the heel and the consequent lack of direct support at the rear part of the heelless shoe. For this purpose the shoe 20 is designed so that its center of gravity is located forwardly of the rear edge 42 of the tread portion 32 of the shoe. This is preferably accomplished by the design of the shoe which as here shown is such that the tread portion 32 extends in the plane of the forward portion thereof sufiiciently rearwardly of the ball line of the shoe whereby the shoe remains in upright position and does not tend to tilt rearwardly about the rear edge of tread portion 32. This may also be accomplished by weighting the forward part of the shoe in relation to the shank and rear parts thereof without extending the tread portion rearwardly of the ball line. The rear extension of tread portion 32 beyond the ball line provides a space which, as shown in Fig.2 of the drawing, is filled by a suitably shaped block 44 of leather or other suitable material,

for properly supporting, under the weight of the wearer, the shank portion of insole 26 rearwardly of the ball line of the shoe.

Heeled shoe I2 is designed to facilitate the insertion and removal of the companion heelless shoe 20 and yet have the ornamental attractive appearance of a finished shoe. For thus facilitating the insertion and removal of the heelless shoe from the heeled shoe, the latter is provided at its upper marginal edge portion with an elastic marginal section 46 which is stretchable longitudinally of the shoe around the opening and which in its contracted condition lies close to the upper of the companion heelless shoe, and to the adjacent portions of the wearer's foot which may be exposed through or beyond the upper of said heelless shoe. For the purpose of ornamentation, elastic 'section 48 is substantially concealed by an ornamental strap or ribbon 48 which extends helically about said elastic portion and for that purpose is threaded through openings 50 provided in the upper l4,.as shown in detail in Fig. 5.

The manner in which the above described shoe combination is utilized is apparent from the foregoing. Accordingly, when the heelless shoe is to be worn for dancing, it will be understood that in going to and from the dance the heeled shoe I2 is worn over heelless shoe 20, said heeled shoe in that case serving to protect the wearers foot from the weather and serving also as a support for the shoe to be used for dancing so that the wearer may engage the ground or floor at the heel of the shoe as well as at the forward or tread portion of the outsole. When, however, the wearer arrives at her destination, the heeled shoe I2 is removed and the wearer retains on her foot only the shoe 20 to be used for dancing. Having removed shoe l2, the wearer, in walking, or dancing, engages the floor only at the forward or tread portion of the outsole of shoe 20. In this connection it will be understood that normally only the forward tread portion of the outsole of shoe l2 engages the floor, as even with a shoe having a heel, the heel is raised above the surface of the floor during the dance. When the heelless shoe 20 of the present invention is worn the wearer not only treads only on the forward portion of the outsole of the shoe while dancing, but at all other times, if she so desires, after the heeled shoe I2 is removed upon her arrival at the place at which dancing takes place. The balancing of the shoe as described above, that is, the location of the center of gravity of the shoe forwardly of the ball line of the shoe, obviates any pull on the wearers foot by the weight of the shoe rearwardly ofthe ball line and to this extent aids the wearer in walking or dancing in treading on the forward portion of her foot. Furthermore, as the shoe 2!! has no heel, the shoe can be considerably lighter than a corresponding heeled shoe in the region thereof rearwardly of the ball line.

Thus, it is seen that the shoe combination and the elements thereof herein shown and described are well adapted to accomplish the several objects of the present invention. It will be understood, however, that the invention may be embodied otherwise than as here shown, and that in the illustrated embodiment certain changes in the construction and arrangement of parts may be made and will occur to skilled artisans in view of the present disclosure. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited precisely to this disclosure, except as may be required by the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters- Patent is:

1. A dancing shoe comprising an upper, a bottom extending for substantially the full length of the wearers foot from toe to heel, said bottom being devoid of a heel and comprising an outersole having an outer forward tread portion, an upwardly and rearwardly inclined shank, and a rear portion raised above said forward tread portion when the latter is in horizontal position, said rear portion of the outersole overlapping the marginal edge portion of the upper at the bottom of the shoe substantially completely therearound and being secured thereto, thereby to impart a finished appearance to the shoe bottom.

2. A dancing shoe comprising an upper, a bottom extending for substantially the full length of the wearers foot from toe to heel, said bottom being devoid of a heel and comprising an outersole having an outer forward tread portion,

an upwardly and rearwardly inclined shank, and

to impart a finished appearance to the shoe bottom, said forward tread portion extending sufficiently toward the rear of the shoe to support the latter with the rear portion of the shoe bottom in said raised position, when the shoe is ofi the wearer's foot.

ANDRE PERUGIA. 

